Beehive



2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

R; (LAIKIN au H. KNIGHT.

BEBHIVE.

No. 522,772. Patented July 10, 1894.

UHUHHIHIUU A TTOHNE Y.

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Patented July 10, 1894.

6g Jg y f? A l/l/M W/TNESSES:

7TOHNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT O. AIKAIN, OF LOVELAND, AND HARRY KNIGHT, OF LITTLETON, COLORADO.4

"Beet-IWB.

sPEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,772, dated July 1o,1894. Application elementary 31,1893. semi 110.460.478. (No man.)

To all whom tm/Cty concern.-

Be it known that we, ROBERT O. AIKIN, residing at Loveland, county ofLarimer, and HARRY KNIGHT, residing at Littleton, county of Arapahoe,State of Colorado, both citizens of the United States of America, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Beehives; and we dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to` make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which `form a part of this specication.

Our invention relates to improvements in bee-hives and our` object is toovercome the defects in hives as heretofore constructed, and to this endour invention concerns the three parts of the hive, namely, the broodchamber, `the honey board, and the super as hereinafter described.

The casing both of our improved brood chamber and the super is heldtogether by tension rods when in use, thus permitting these parts to beshipped in knock down shape and greatly lessening the cost oftransportation. The tension of the rods is regulated by thumb nutsapplied to their proj ecting threaded extremities, thus making it a veryeasy matter to assemble the parts and adjust the casing, which by theuse of the thumb nuts, may be drawn together and the inner frames orsections compressed as tightly as desired.

Another very important feature 'of our invention relates to the mannerof supporting the sections in the super. Heretofore these sections havebeen supported from the bottom which engaged or rested upon thesupporting means. The most common and perhaps the best means heretoforeemployed to accomplish this purpose consists of what is known toapiarists and hive manufacturers as T-tins. When in place the crosssection of this means of support is T-shaped with the T inverted, theleg of which extends upward between the sections while the bottoms ofthe adjacent sections engage the projec tions or fianges on each side ofthe leg. These T-tins are formed from an integral piece of sheet metal,thus making theleg double; moreover, its two parts are never pressedclose together but are somewhat separated whereby this T-tin support forthe sections keeps them considerably separated and open at the top,allowing the bees access for the deposition of propolis betwcenthesections. This propolis deposit is very objectionable for severalreasons well understood by apiarists and those skilled in bee culture.Hence it is desirable that these sections should be brought together asclosely as possible, whereby access to the bees is prevented. Moreoverwhen the sections are supported by T-tins they are liable to get out ofshape, since from their construction they have a tendency to approachthe diamondshape, which the T-tin permits as it gives support only fromthe bottom. We overcome this difficulty by providing the separatorslying between the sections with short spurs of any desired shape, whichare adapted to indent the edges of the sections and embed themselvestherein as the sections are compressed by the tension rods, whereby thesections are brought very closely together, since the separators arecomposed of a single strip of very thin sheet metal. Instead ofproviding the separators with spurs, auxiliary separating stripsprovided with spurs may be employed; These are dropped in between thesections above the ordinary separators and at right angles thereto.

y The invention consists further of the features, arrangements andcombinations hereinafter described and claimed, and the entireconstruction in all its details will be fully understood by reference tothe accompanying drawings in which is illustrated an embodiment of theinvention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective same taken on the line ca -x,Fig. 5. Fig. 7

is a horizontal section taken through the super on the line y@/, Fig. 1.Fig. 8 is a` similar section partially broken away and showing theauxiliary spur supports in place. Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of theseparator provided with the supporting spurs. Fig. 10 is a similar viewof v the auxiliary strip provided with the supporting spurs. Fig. 11 isa vertical section `taken on line a-e', Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a similarsection taken on the line fio-w, Fig. 10, but shown on an enlargedscale. Fig. 13 is a section taken on the line fv-c, Fig. 8.

Similar reference characters indicating corresponding parts or elementsof the mechanism in the several views let the numeral 5 p desiginate thebrood chamber, 6 the super and 7 the honey board. The brood chambercasing is composed of four parts or sides, two of which designated as 5(only one being shown) are provided with grooved projections 5d adaptedto receive the tension rods 8 which pass through the ap'erturedextremities of the other two sides 5, and are secured by thumb nuts 9,which the extremities of the rods are threaded to receive, theiropposite extremities being provided with suitable heads. The aperturedextremities 5 of the sides are provided with metal corner plates 5gwhich form bearing surfaces for the heads and nuts of the tension rods.These plates give firmness, durability and strength to the hive.

The sides 5iL of the brood chamber are grooved to receive the rods 8,the grooves being at the extremities of the sides. The rods thus bendoutwardly from their extremities to their engagement with theprojections 59. Hence as the thumb nuts are properly turned the casingis compressed both in the directionof the rods extension and at rightangles thereto.

' The sides 6"L and 6c forming the super casing are connected, regulatedand adjusted in precisely the same manner'as the corresponding orsimilar parts of the brood-chamber just described, hence the tensionrods, thumb nuts,

corner plates and grooved projections will be Y designated by the samereference characters.

The super 'isprovided with the separators 12 having the spurs 12?projecting in opposite directions from their two surfaces and adapted toindent the edges of the sections 13 which they engage. As shown in thedrawings these spurs are formed by cutting a slit 12c in those parts ofthe separator engaging the sides of each two contiguous sections, andthen turning the edges of the material outwardly in opposite directionsand at right angles to the body of the separator. This is avery simplevmethod of forming the short spurs whichas the sides of the super arecompressed by the use of the tension rods, readily enter the edges ofthe sections and embed themselves in such a manner that the separatorsurfaces are brought to actual engagement with the sections and asclosely as would be the case if the spurs were vnot employed. Theseindenting spurs oredges are located about midway of the verticalextension of the separator and therefore support the sections firmly inplace and permit of their being brought closely together whereby thebees are prevented from depositing propolis between them as beforeexplained. Or the separators may be made plain and auxiliary spur-strips14 employed which are dropped in between the sections at right angles tothe separators and above the same as shown in the drawings. The spurs onthe auxiliary supporting strips 14: are formed by perforating the stripsfrom opposite sides, causing the edges around the apertures to projectin opposite directions-onY the two surfaces.

The honey board 7 is of ordinary construction except that it affords thepassage Way for the ingress and egress of the bees. Hence it carries thealighting board 7:L which is fashioned to receive the queen anddronetrap 15. The honey board is provided with the entrance '7a in frontthrough which the work bees pass directly into and from theY superwithout entering the brood chamber. In consequence of this arrangementit is believed the bees will deposit a greater amount of honey in thesuper than in those hives where they are obliged to pass through thebroodchamber before entering the super. The honey board is also providedwith the passage way 7c leading to and from the brood chamber. Thesepassage ways are further designated by the arrows a and c. Y

The ordinary position of the trap l5 is shown in Fig. 3, the same beingheld in place by the spring projection 16. rated metal receptacle whoseperforations are large enough to allow the work bees to pass in and outat will. It is provided with a metal cone 15a suitably attached thereinand surrounding the passage leading from the brood chamber. The cone isof such construction that while it allows the queen bee to pass from thebrood chamber into the trap, it prevents her return tothe chamber. Hencethe term trap as applied to the device in question. The object of thequeen trap is to catch the queen when a swarm issues from the hive. Thebees will then return to find their queen, when they may be hived in theusual way. The trap is removed from the position on the alighting boardand placed edgewise against the super to allow the queen to take herwedding flight.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is-a 1. In abee-hive, the combination with the super-section of strips or separatorslocated between the sections and provided with spurs or projections,substantially as described.

2. In a bee-hive the combination with the super sections, of theseparators provided with spurs or projections adapted Ito indent andsupport the sections, the casing composed of detachable sides and thetension rods which pass through apertures formed in the extremities oftwo sides and engage lugs or projec- IOO This trap is a perfoclosing thesame, of strips or separators 1ocated between the sections and carryingprojecting spurs or edges adapted to indent the sections as the casingis compressed, and tension rods engaging the casing whereby it issimultaneously compressed on all sides, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we aiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

' ROBERT C. AIKIN.

HARRY KNIGHT. Witnesses: p

WM. MCCONNELL, H. J. HOWZE.

